Chock It Up To
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: T for themes, but it's yummy. ; A kinda sequel to "How to Make a Half-Baked Heart." Songfic ONESHOT. Lavender was never very good at lengthy relationships, meaning that Lucius works out perfectly...until he tries to say a certain thing. R&R, thanks!


**Chock It Up To…**

A HariPo songfic

by mew-tsubaki

Note: These characters belong to J.K. Rowling. **This pairing is mine –please, if you write them, just give me a small mention, thanks!** I wrote this for **Mew and Mor's Weird Pairings**, under my challenge topic in the **HPFC**, found here (Just take out the spaces!): **http : / forum. fanfiction. net/ topic /44309 /25299326 /1/** Read, review, and enjoy! And check out and join the forum challenge! **This is for my friend, ****BlueMango****! XD**

Song: "Bulletproof" by La Roux. AN AWESOME SONG! X3

- ^-^3

_ "Love is giving someone the ability to hurt you but trusting them enough not to." –Unknown_

**i)**_**Been there, done that, messed around-  
I'm having fun, don't put me down;  
I'll never let you sweep me off my feet.**_

Hmmm, when had it occurred to her to fall for him? Lavender Brown wondered… Maybe it hadn't been all that voluntary…

Draco had been a git. He had been a quick fling, a come-and-go shag when she needed it and vice versa. He'd never been anything serious. "Serious" was for those too emotionally involved.

Would you call Lav "emotionally involved" now? After all, her new focus for fun was… Well, it was Lucius, the older Malfoy. How the bloody hell that had happened, she didn't really know. Somehow, one night (she was sure it had been one of those "reunion"-type thingies) she'd been arguing with Draco one second (they were "off" then) and in Lucius' arms the next. Then she was kissing him with the fervor of a teenage girl in love (though she was nothing of the sort) and he relented and kissed her back, growing hungrier with every little bit of extra pressure she pressed on his chest and mouth.

But he was her toy. He didn't hold her heart. And she would never let him. Lavender was the child; he was the toy. She could break him any time she so desired.

**ii)**_** I won't let you in again;  
The messages I've tried to send-  
My information's just not going in.**_

Oh, Merlin, _why_ did he look at her like that? _Why_?

Lucius…Lucius was capable of such _emotion_, such _vulnerability_? No, this had to be an illusion or a self-delusion. Lucius was not that kind of person. It wasn't in his character to look at her like _she_ was the bad one in this relationship! _He_ was the bad guy, not her! _He_ was the one who played with people and then discarded them when they'd worn out their welcome!

He shouldn't be looking at her like he expected more than just flesh. Did he really want her soul, too? Her heart? Her-Her _everything_?

No, no, no matter how much those grey eyes softened and pleaded (it turned out Draco got his sliver of compassion and humanity from his father and not his mother), she would tell him over and over and over and over again that she didn't want anything real. She didn't want to fall hopelessly in love. She just wanted the raw, carnal attention that animals shared.

So again she told him "no."

**iii)**_**Burning bridges shore to shore,  
I'll break away from something more;  
I'm not to not to love until it's cheap.**_

Ah, yes, finally she'd told him the final "no."

It'd taken a while, prying him away from her. But she'd managed to do it. She'd managed to get him to back off enough so she could breathe.

Yes, she needed to breathe… Not hear those words…

Lav vaguely recalled stopping him right as he'd started to say, "I think I'm in l-"

She didn't need to hear that. That was precisely _why_ she was with Lucius. He was known _not_ to say such things.

Well, apparently he'd only never say them to Narcissa. It'd just taken the right kind of woman, being Lavender. So Lav did as any sensible woman would do:

She ran.

**iv)**_** This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof;  
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof.**_

Ah, Merlin, she ached. It was weird, feeling so sick. Lavender's usual peppiness tended to stave off any illnesses, so she wondered what she had. A cold? No, she didn't feel quite that crappy. A fever? No, her mind wasn't fuzzy. A stomach bug? Nope, she wasn't puking her guts out.

Lavender stood and walked around her apartment. Urgh, there wasn't anything to eat in the damn fridge. Sure, there was food, but that didn't mean there was anything to eat. The witch grabbed a can of soda and a chocolate bar and went back into the living room. She munched on the candy…and stopped.

Her cheeks were wet. She hadn't even felt the tears.

Of course, things only spiraled downward from there. 'Cause then Parvati had come over and hung out with her, comforting and cheering as needed. But Lav didn't need that. She didn't even want her best mate around today.

Oh, hell, was that really an owl at the window?

It was. In its beak, the owl carried a single stalk of…_lavender_. Though it was so cheesy, so cliché, Lav couldn't help but start to blubber at the sight of the flower. Parvati had rushed over and seen the flower and gotten that bloody knowing look in her eye.

"Oh, Lav," she'd said, "you're _lovesick_."

But "lovesick" was just a joke, an old wives' tale! …wasn't it?

**v) **_**I won't let you turn around  
And tell me now I'm much too proud  
To walk away from something when it's dead.**_

So it wasn't. Time passed and this "sickness" only got worse. Lav did her best to put such silly things out of her mind, but her routine was not the same. She was not the same.

Maybe… Maybe it was not _all_ bad, the idea of being involved with Lucius in _that_ way… She saw him as no one else did…

*Gasp!* Speak of the Death Eater, there he is! Oh, look at him. That look of recognition on his face as he meets her eyes. Lucius is most _certainly_ surprised to see her at the head of Knockturn Alley. Well, of course it would be a surprise. He wasn't really a Death Eater anymore, but she never had been one from the beginning.

She went to call out to him. She hadn't needed. He'd walked right over and –ugh, and grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her aside. His trademark spiteful sneer was on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he'd hissed lowly.

She'd frowned and glared at him. "I wanted to see you," she'd admitted, hating how weak and simple and _pure_ she sounded.

He gave her a look that she'll never forget. "Leave. You should know better than to come crawling back when there's nothing there."

Lav must've looked like she'd had the wind knocked out of her. She'd had to drop her gaze, but he didn't comfort her as he once had. No, he merely left her there. Then it was just poor little Lavender Brown standing on Knockturn Alley.

Finally, the tables had turned.

**vi)**_** Do, do, do your dirty words.  
Come out to play when you are heard.  
There's certain things that should be left unsaid.**_

Ha! He was all words, no backbone! Lavender got the last laugh.

Um-hmm, yup, she would always get the last laugh with him. Merlin, if the Wizarding world ever found out that the great Lucius Malfoy was wrapped around the little finger of a little witch… Well, Dark Wizards didn't seem so formidable anymore. No, they didn't.

So when Lav grabbed his chin and directed his mouth to hers, she fought back a smile. When she wound his hair in her hands and yanked his head back to kiss his neck, she tried not to bite. When his hands looked for a place to wander, she drew them up the length of her body and back down and thought, _If I control him, does that make me evil?_

_ Or smart?_

She shuddered as he…tried things he had not shown before, possibly not _known_ before. Hmm, he was _very_ experienced. Maybe he'd learned a few things just for her. At least he didn't try saying anything this time. No, they were back to being purely animal like she'd always wanted.

**vii)**_** Tick, tick, tick, tick, on the watch  
And life's too short for me to stop.  
Oh, baby, your time is running out.**_

Ah, yes, the humdrum life of a witch in- Lav stopped short and awoke for the umpteenth time in Lucius' arms. Had that thought really crossed her mind? Had she almost been about to make the same mistake he had months ago? The same mistake that had chased her off once before?

B-But he was her toy… He didn't hold her…heart… And she –she would never let him… _Lavender_ was the child; _he_ was the toy. She could break him any time she so desired!

And yet… It was these arms that held her, these locks that tickled her shoulder, these closed eyes that found peaceful, restful sleep only around her…

Hmmm, when had it occurred to her to fall for him? Lavender Brown wondered… Maybe it hadn't been all that voluntary… But maybe that was okay.

Or was it? Because she was never any good at lengthy relationships. If her math was right, they'd crash and burn soon.

So very soon.

**viii)** _**I won't let you turn around  
And tell me now I'm much too proud.  
All you do is fill me up with doubt.**_

He'd done it _again_!

Lucius had acted as though _she_ was the one that came crawling back every time, but that wasn't the truth. All she had to do was toss her hair over her shoulder and bat those eyelashes and he was putty in her hands. Really.

But he'd pulled the same game as before. He'd shunned her and told her she needed to "calm down" and "remember it's nothing serious."

Bastard. Now she was confused about her feelings for him again. And _just_ when she'd thought she'd figured them out…it was okay. They wouldn't last very much longer…would they?

**ix) **_**This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof;  
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof.**_

Oh, _Merlin_. She was the ant under his shoe. She should've known. Lucius Malfoy could _never_ be controlled.

They were over. That was it. Gone. POOF!

And all because he'd wished it.

So what had she done wrong? She thought she'd figured him out, solved the equation. When he'd wanted her, she'd fled. When she'd wanted him, he'd pushed her away. Just as he'd done again now.

Lavender… Lavender couldn't do anything. She had to face it. She played too much with her food, so it was taken from her. No wonder her relationships didn't last very long. She was the problem.

The witch had to grow up and realize that people were not playthings. They were flesh and blood and heart and soul.

…

She seemed to be only flesh and blood.

**x) **_**This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof;  
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof.**_

With a great ache in the place where she knew her heart should be, Lavender picked up the last box. She surveyed the empty apartment and heaved a great sigh. There were so many memories here.

This was her first apartment! This was where she'd first struck out on her own. This was… This was where she and Parvati and shared magazines and downed tubs of ice cream as the pain called for and where she and her best mate had been the adult versions of their old schoolgirl selves. They'd even invited P's twin, Padma, over a few times…okay, so it was more to doll the girl up and prepare her for a real life when shy Padma had begun dating Dean Thomas, but whatever. There were so many memories here.

Lav glanced back at the small kitchen's window and stared out at the city's hazy smog floating above the building-tops. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad leaving this place after all…

"Oh my Merlin! _YOU?_"

Parvati's screech brought Lavender back to the present. Who the bloody hell would turn up at a time like this? She ran from the kitchen and stopped dead-short. She actually slipped and crashed to the floor from her speed. But all she could do was gape at him.

"Very unbecoming of a lady," Lucius stated. He gave Parvati a disgruntled look. "Of two ladies, really." He turned back to Lavender. "Come with me."

She found her voice. "What? No! No, I will not-"

"Come-" he said with a dark look in his eyes- "-with me. Now."

He turned and left. Lav exchanged a look with her friend and hopped up, unsure of what was going to happen. Hell, she'd have enough to deal with just explaining things to P when she returned.

If she returned.

Lavender caught up with him at the end of the street and had to lean on him while catching her breath. "What's your problem, Luci-"

The next thing she knew, he had her tilted back, Frenching her to within an inch of her life in front of all the passing witches and wizards to see. When he broke away, he held her there. "Listen and listen well."

The witch nodded. She couldn't speak right now even if she wanted; she was too breathless.

"I ended it to give you a break. I thought you would finally develop some sense and smarts by doing so. But apparently not."

"Hey! That's-"

"I wasn't finished." He stood her up and led her through the winding streets and off the beaten path. It took her a while before she realized they were heading to Malfoy Manor.

She laughed darkly. "So you've seen the light. You'll finally accept me as a piece of meat, like I've always seen you."

"No, you don't."

Lav frowned. "I did."

"I…thought I might have," he said, averting his eyes. Yes, he was much too proud for this sort of thing. "You… You don't get it, do you?"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, Lucius, what's there to get? You wanted me in a way I didn't want you, then when I finally reached that point, you pushed me away. It's tiresome and hurtful and bothersome, really, and I don't want to deal with this anymore. I'm backing off."

"I let you go so you could give me some time to…to finally say what I wanted to before."

"What?" Lavender stopped him. "You've got to be kidding me. That- That's not you! You don't…" Words failed her. She realized what this was. The dancing around each other. The playing with the other and being in the wrong moment at the wrong time. His multiple rejections. "You were sorting your own heart out…"

He grimaced at the word "heart." "I'm not sure I would…use that choice of words…but I know what I want. When I want something, I do what is in my power to get it." He kissed her again and rested his chin on her head. "Well?"

Lavender was quiet for so long that Lucius had to look at her. "Well… I think this is crazy that this is even happening," she mumbled with a nervous giggle. "I mean, I'm- I'm sick of being hurt-"

"And hurting me?" he added with a note of sadness.

She bit her lip and slowly nodded. "Yes. I've learned that I can't control you –or myself, for that matter."

"Then do you mind if I repeat my words from before, when I was so rudely interrupted?"

"Lucius, I don't think-"

"'I think I'm in love with you,'" he restated, hugging her close to him. "I'm a bad guy, I know. I don't have positive emotions. That's why I'm treating this as a beast that's untamable and unpredictable."

"Then-"

"_Don't_ interrupt." He tightened his grip on her waist when she tried to back out of his arms. "And _don't_ run off again, little bird." He looked at her with this glint in his eyes. "Won't you accept your cage?"

Lav twisted her lips around. It wouldn't really be falling for him if she accepted such a proposal… Well, no, it wasn't falling for him. She'd already fallen for him ages ago. So why did any of that matter? She could let him have what he wanted, because she wanted it, too.

Chock it up to Lucius Malfoy being a heartfelt heartbreaker. Well, at least she wouldn't be spending any more time crumbling brownies on his front stoop waiting for him to come back to her. Nope.

Now she'd be crumbling the brownies on _their_ front stoop…possibly.

- ^-^3

**FINALLY! XO This took me forever to write! I kept getting distracted and then I was trying to figure out how to end it. I think that was a pretty good ending, don't you? :D This ended up being a sequel to my first Lavlucius, "How to Make a Half-Baked Heart." Hence, the brownie reference. I really didn't think I'd be writing a sequel for it, but here it is –and it's my 90****th**** story, too! XD w00t!**

**Note: The lyrics are a little chopped up and the end has a lot more of that single sentence, but I used the lyrics as needed. More Lavlucius is on the way, with the help of more lyrics from La Roux! "Bulls Eye" is the next, so please keep an eye out for it!**

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!**

**-mew-tsubaki :3**

**Thanks, Morghen, for Betaing! *pries Reggie away from Aaralyn for a moment to hand him over* Smooch away! :D**


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